


HumaniTEA's Strongest

by mybrainproblems



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tea Shop, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 08:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mybrainproblems/pseuds/mybrainproblems
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ereri tea shop AU that apparently didn't exist yet. (How?)</p><p>Eren accidentally stumbles upon Levi's tea shop and has the audacity to order a coffee. Levi decides that he needs to educate this heathen about the beauty that is a steaming cup of white tea and Eren is more than happy to learn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	HumaniTEA's Strongest

**Author's Note:**

> How did this not exist yet??

He’d missed his stop.

Not only had Eren missed his stop, he had missed his stop to the point where he was almost _three miles_ from where he should have gotten off. Even if the bus heading in the opposite direction showed up in the next five minutes he was still going to miss the first hour of his three hour seminar. His forehead hit the wall of the bus shelter – forty minutes. Now that it was off-peak hours the busses ran infrequently and he was so royally screwed that it wasn’t even funny. On top of that, forty minutes was the optimistic time. The snow from two days ago had melted and frozen over twice now and the roads were a nightmare. Eren groaned and looked around, hoping to find somewhere warm that he could sit for what was likely to be over an hour.

As he looked around the area he noticed that most of the businesses were restaurants and at just past ten in the morning none of them were open. He noticed a diner down at the corner of the road but he’d already eaten breakfast and there was nothing more awkward than sitting in a diner by yourself drinking coffee and picking at a muffin that you didn’t really want. Looking around a bit further he saw what looked like a café down one of the side streets. He checked his wallet to make sure that he had enough to cover at least one cup of coffee before heading off in that direction, trudging through packed down snow and slush and trying his best not to slip.

He shuddered and sighed deeply when he finally stepped into the warmth of the café, a wave of heat hitting his face and making it sting after the bitter cold outside. Looking around he saw that it was mostly empty except for two people sitting at a table towards the back and a server standing at the counter. They were currently facing away from him and scrubbing vigorously at the counter. Eren watched as they turned to face him and smiled awkwardly at the man’s neutral gaze.

“Welcome to HumaniTEA’s Strongest, how can I help you?”

“Yeah, can I get a medium black coffee?” The man looked at him blankly and one of his eyebrows raised slowly.

“Coffee?”

“Yeah, you’re a café, right?”

“This is a _tea shop_. We only sell _tea_ here.”

“Oh um. Okay then. Can I get a medium tea then?” The other man’s blank expression shifted into annoyance and Eren fidgeted slightly.

“What type of tea?”

“Black?” The other man was openly glaring at him now.

“Do you know how many types of black tea there are?”

“Um, I usually drink breakfast tea or chai.”

“But chai…” He trailed off and shook his head at Eren, giving him a look of pity. “Come sit at the counter. And don’t drip all over the floor. Leave your coat on the hook over there.”

“Right!” Eren scrambled to get out of his coat and leave it on the hook by the door while trying not to put his messenger bag down on the damp mat in front of the door. With his coat hung up, Eren walked over to sit at the counter. He watched as the other man fussed around grabbing canisters from the wall behind the counter and took in his appearance now that he was close enough to really see what he looked like. He couldn’t help but stare at the man’s hair; the undercut with the top grown out and pulled back seemed slightly out of place on a man who was wearing black slacks and a white collared shirt with and black apron over it. His hair said “punk rock” more than it said “works in a tea shop.” Eren also suddenly realized that the other man was standing on his _tip toes_ to reach one of the top canisters on the wall. Eventually the man turned back to him and lined up a number of canisters on the counter.

“So first off. When you say ‘chai’ I’m assuming you mean spiced black tea?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well first off the word ‘chai’ actually _means_ tea. So what you actually drink is masala chai which is _spiced_ tea. Have you ever had anything besides black tea?”

“I mean, I’ve had mint and chamomile tea.”

“Those aren’t tea. Those are tisanes.”

“Well what the heck is a tisane?”

“Tea refers to steeping camellia sinensis leaves. Tisanes are herbal teas.”

“Oh well _excuse_ me…” Eren glanced at the other man’s name tag. “ _Levi._ ”

“What the –” He looked down. “Right. Name tag.”

“So what are you doing?” Eren watched as Levi shuffled canisters around and pulled out a number of trowel-like spoons from under the counter.

“We’re going to educate you.”

“Look, I just wanted to get something hot to drink while I’m waiting for the bus. Literally the only reason I came in here.” He watched as Levi seemed to deflate a little bit.

“When’s your bus?”

“Ideally it’s getting here in twenty-five minutes but the bus I was on before was running almost twenty minutes late. And then I fell asleep and now I’m here.”

“So you have about forty minutes to kill. Let’s find a tea.”

“But –”

“But what?”

“I don’t want to miss my bus.”

“Okay well let’s at least figure out a black tea that you like. Shouldn’t take too long. You said you usually drink a breakfast black?”

“Or ch- _masala_ chai.” Eren watched as Levi turned his face to hide a smirk.

“Those are pretty different flavor-wise. Honestly, masala chai is one of the few flavored black teas besides Earl Grey that I can stomach.”

“What other flavored ones are there?”

“There are a lot of varieties of Earl Grey which are very good. There’s one I like that has cornflower in it even. But then you get your chocolate-strawberry flavored shit and god help you if you tell me you like that crap.”

“No I… those are things people drink?” Eren scrunched up his face in disgust.

“Well, looks like we might be able to make you a proper tea drinker.”

“So can I just pick a black tea?”

“Here, we’ll start with the basics.” Levi set four canisters in a row and placed four of the spoons on the counter before pointing to each canister. “Your basics would be an English breakfast tea which is a blend and with the exception of mass-produced tea, no two places are likely to serve the same blend. Next we have a Darjeeling which is somewhat astringent and fruity. After that is the Assam which is a bit more robust and malty. And finally there is an Earl Grey. Unlike the other three which are just tea leaves, Earl Grey is perfumed with bergamot and depending on the blend, other things as well.”

“Right. So how do I decide?”

“I’m not going to brew you a cup of each since you’re trying to catch a bus so I’m just going to have you smell the leaves.”

“The leaves?” Eren stared at Levi in consternation.

“How else… You’re used to drinking _bagged_ tea, aren’t you?”

“Yeah? How else would I drink it?”

“You poor deprived child.” Levi opened up the top to one of the canisters and took one of the spoons to scoop out a small amount of leaves. He extended his arm slightly so that Eren could lean down to smell it. “Thoughts?”

“It smells like tea.” Levi groaned and Eren felt a little awkward that apparently he wasn’t smelling whatever it was that Levi thought he should. “Which one was that?”

“The English breakfast. It’s boring so I’ll let it pass this time.”

“ _Thanks._ ” Levi let the leaves from the first spoon spill back into the canister and set the spoon aside in order to pick up another and open the second canister.

“This one is the Darjeeling. It’s a Second Flush and it’s only a Tippy Golden so it’s really not the greatest but if you’re just looking for something hot –” Levi shrugged, “also your palette isn’t nearly sophisticated enough yet to appreciate something like a Super Fine Tippy.”

“Right. I’ll pretend I know what that means.” Eren leaned forward and smelled the leaved in the proffered spoon. “It smells… nice? Kind of… sweet? But not like, actually sweet.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘fruity’ probably.” Levi let the leaves fall back into the canister again before taking up the third spoon and opening the canister. “This is an Assam.”

“It smells…” Eren paused and smelled it again. “Heavy?”

“That’s not a word I’ve heard used before but I’ll take it.”

“And that last one is the Earl Grey?”

“Yeah. It’s really only going to smell like bergamot but it’s just to see if you prefer that to the basic black teas.” Levi held it out towards him.

“It smells like perfume.”

“Bergamot is used in a lot of perfumes. It can be a bit overpowering sometimes. We have more than just the one blend but your bus might be here soon and I don’t want you to miss it.”

“Right.”

“So which would you like?”

“I think I liked the Assam best?”

“I’ll get you a cup to-go.”

Eren watched as Levi poured water into an electric kettle and set it to boil before taking the canisters and placing them back up on the shelf. He caught himself watching Levi’s back and the way his shirt was just fitted enough that he could tell that Levi was probably very fit underneath it. He shifted awkwardly in his seat to try and ignore the man in front of him but he couldn’t help but watch the economical and yet graceful movement of his hands as he spooned some of the leaves into a mesh strainer and set it in the cup. Eren watched Levi watching the kettle, paid attention to details like the fact that Levi’s hands weren’t delicate the way he had somehow been expecting because of his short stature. That they looked rough and not at all soft the way he had thought the hands of someone who worked in a tea shop would.

Eren didn’t realize how far into his thoughts he had gone until Levi was putting his tea on the counter in front of him.

“That’s $2.58, please.”

“What if I want to try the other teas?” Levi looked up at him, mildly surprised.

“I can put together a sampler with those four and some paper filters for you to try at home.”

“That sounds great.” Levi nodded and turned to start taking canisters down again before filling four smaller tins with tea and scribbling some notes on a piece of paper before putting everything in a bag. Eren continued to watch him, still drawn in by the precision of his movements. There wasn’t a single frivolous motion and yet it seemed graceful rather than spartan. He didn’t realize that he had been leaning over the counter to watch Levi until he turned back towards him. Eren smiled at Levi when he handed him the bag.

“I wrote out some basic instructions for tea steeping for you. Your full total is $17.32 now.”

“Fuck.” Levi raised an eyebrow at Eren’s sudden curse. “Sorry, I only have sixteen dollars on me. Shit, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. Give me what you have, that’s not too far off.”

“Oh wow. Thanks!” Eren paused before turning. “I’ll have to drop by and tell you what I liked best later.”

“Sure.”

“When do you work?”

“Tuesday through Saturday from 7am to 3pm.”

“I’ll see you later then.” Eren gave him a smile before shrugging his coat back on and walking out into the cold, his fingers wrapped tightly around the cardboard of his cup.

He was lucky that he only waited about ten minutes before the bus showed up. He didn’t bother trying to go to his class when it was almost more than halfway done and went straight home. He sipped at his tea for the whole ride and couldn’t get Levi’s rough but graceful hands out of his mind.

 

“Eren, are you drinking _tea?_ ”

“Yeah, why?”

“Usually you drink coffee. _A lot_ of coffee.” Mikasa was leaning against the kitchen wall and looking puzzled.

“I figured I’d switch things up.”

“So then what are you drinking? I thought we only had some chamomile tea in the cabinet.”

“It’s a um… a second flush Darjeeling.”

“Where the heck did you get it?” Mikasa was staring at him in fascination.

“Remember how I said I fell asleep on the bus and missed my class? When I went into a place to get some coffee but it turned out they only served tea so I got some and figured I’d get some to drink at home.”

“And you knew what a second flush Darjeeling is?”

“Well I didn’t _then._ What’s with all the questions?”

“Nothing, you just never struck me as a tea person.”

“Yeah well, I’m trying something new.”

 

Everything was covered in slush the next time Eren walked to the tea shop. He could feel the dampness creeping up the legs of his pants as he sloshed down the sidewalk. As he got closer he realized that he was going to be soaking wet and given Levi’s reaction to his coat last time, tracking in this much slush and muck wasn’t going to go over very well. He sighed deeply as he went down the steps to the door and pushed it open. This time there were more a few more people in the shop and as Eren’s eyes swept across the shop he saw that Levi was serving one of the tables. He watched the precise movements of Levi’s hands as he took off his coat to hang it by the door before moving towards the counter. A moment later Levi was returning to his place behind the counter as well. A mild look of surprise fluttered across his face before returning to his usual bland expression.

“Didn’t think you’d come back.”

“I said I’d tell you how I liked the tea.” Eren gave him a sunny smile as he sat down.

“So how did you like the tea?”

“I think the Assam was my favorite, but I really liked the Darjeeling too and the Earl Grey was really nice when I was studying for a test two days ago.”

“There’s a tea for every occasion. What about the English breakfast? You didn’t mention that one.”

“It was just tea. I guess I could see drinking it for breakfast but it didn’t seem like more than just…” Eren gesticulated vaguely, trying to capture a word. “It was just tea.”

“That’s a pretty accurate assessment. Every blend is different so you might get different qualities but on the whole, there are more interesting teas to be drinking.”

“Like what?” Eren gave Levi a quizzical look and found Levi looking back at him calculatingly.

“Let’s start with some greens then, shall we?”

 

“Where are you getting all this tea? When did you even start drinking tea?”

“Armin, not you too.” Eren groaned and picked up his tea cup again, inhaling deeply and allowing the scent to smooth the annoyance out of his face. “Why is everyone so hung up on me drinking tea?”

“Because we’re used to you drinking a pot of coffee every day and now you’ve cleared out half a cabinet in our kitchen for tea. How many different kinds of tea _are_ there?”

“I’ll let you know when I’ve tried them all. But I think I’ve had about fifty by now.”

“How have you had that many?”

“There’s a tea shop I go to. I try one or two new things while I’m there and get some tea to bring home.”

“How did you even end up finding a place that only sells tea anyway?”

“I fell asleep on the bus.”

“You…? You know what, I’m not even going to ask.”

 

“So what am I trying today?” Eren watched Levi’s hands, currently folded neatly in front of him as he leaned slightly on the counter in front of Eren.

“You choose.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“I think you’ve earned the right to pick your own tea.”

“Awesome!” Eren grinned at Levi who simply raised an eyebrow in return.

“I’ll get you a menu so you can look it over. Feel free to ask questions, but I won’t choose for you.”

“And what if I choose something awful.”

“Well, make sure you choose something you don’t think you’ll regret getting. You know I hate wasted tea so I _will_ make you drink all of it.”

“And what if I order chocolate-strawberry flavored black tea?”

“If we even stocked it I’d make you drink the whole thing and then kill you and dump your body in the river.”

“That’s pretty harsh.”

“Just pick a damn tea.”

Eren looked through the menu, its multiple gigantic pages listing teas first by type (black, green, white, oolong, tisane) and then again by region. While Eren favored darker teas (Levi attributed it to the amount of coffee he used to drink) he was starting to be won over by the more fragile and complex taste of white tea. Looking through the list of white teas he found one that jumped out at him, one that he had heard Levi talk about previously and sing the praises of its complexity of flavor but had never had him try. Eren figured that it had to do with his “unrefined palate” but he wanted to prove to Levi that he could appreciate the same delicate flavors that he did.

“How about the baihao yinzhen?” He watched as Levi’s face took on a slightly melancholy look.

“Sorry, you can’t get that one. You’ll have to pick something else.”

“I thought you said that you wouldn’t pick anything for me.” Eren glared at Levi.

“Well, you physically cannot drink that tea.”

“What, do I need to know some super-secret tea lovers’ handshake bullshit?” Levi snorted, his face scrunching up and Eren was just gone over how cute his facial expression was. His annoyance ebbed slightly as Levi looked up at him again.

“It’s an ephemeral white. It’s only harvested at a specific time of year and it’s really only good for a few months after that. I have some still left here but I couldn’t serve it to you in good conscience. You wouldn’t _really_ be drinking baihao yinzhen. Just a pale imitator.”

“Wow, um. Okay then. What was that matcha you were talking about last week?”

“It’s an old favorite of mine. I’ll make it for you, but it’s best when you have it at a tea ceremony.”

 

“Eren, this is completely out of control. Where the hell am I supposed to put the cereal?”

“Just leave it on the counter.”

“This is ridiculous Eren. You have an entire cabinet for your tea! Both Armin and I think this is getting out of control. Can’t you just put some of the teas together so we can have more space?”

“What?” Eren was giving Mikasa a horrified look. “That would completely ruin the flavor. How would you feel if I told you to put your cocoa puffs with your shredded wheat?”

“They’re two completely different cereals.”

“Well that would be exactly what it would be like if I put a Ti Kuan Yin tea in the same container as a Lapsang Souchong!”

“This is ridiculous. Find somewhere else to put your tea.”

 

“Hey, Levi!” Eren bounded into the shop, nearly crashing into an umbrella stand that Levi had put by the door in anticipation of the downpour that was happening outside.

“Hello, Eren. What can I get you?”

“I’ve had a kind of shitty week. Any tea recommendations?”

“Stressful shitty or bad-things-happening shitty?”

“Two papers and an exam. Stressful.”

“You probably don’t need the caffeine so how about a tisane?”

“That sounds great.”

“Just so you know, if you get this again it won’t taste exactly the same. It’s my own blend, I don’t like making a ton of it so it’s not on the menu.”

“Oh wow. Breaking out the secret stash for your best customer?” Eren smirked at Levi as he teased him, he didn’t expect the answer that he got.

“You aren’t my best… but you are my favorite.”

Under normal circumstances, the tisane probably would have been very soothing to Eren, but instead all he could feel was his stomach doing acrobatics and his heart pounding in his ears. He was Levi’s _favorite_ customer.

 

 “You’ve been drinking that tea a lot lately, haven’t you?” Eren didn’t look up at Armin as he sat down at the kitchen table with him, continuing to stare into the depths of his mug, a relaxed look on his face.

“It’s a tisane, an herbal tea. This one is really good for stress.”

“Well it does smell nice. What’s in it?”

“Ginger, chamomile, lemon, peppermint… other things too but I’d have to ask Levi since he’s the one who blended it.”

“Who’s Levi?”

“Oh um, he works at the tea shop I’ve been going to.” Armin’s mouth parted slightly at Eren’s words and he made a soft noise of comprehension.

“He’s the one who got you into tea?”

“Yeah. I’ve tried almost every tea in his shop now.”

“Wow. You’ve been going there three times a week for over two months and you still haven’t tried everything?”

“He has a lot of tea.”

“You like him.” It wasn’t even a question. Eren blushed and continued to stare down at his cup. “Ask him out.”

“I don’t know… what if? I don’t want things to be awkward.”

“Well you’re drinking a tea that he specifically made more than once a day. I think something’s gotta give here, Eren.”

 

Eren fidgeted slightly as Levi turned back to him, a cup of Golden Yunnan in each hand. Levi had started to make himself some tea along with Eren’s and would sit with him as they talked about tea. However, in the past two weeks their conversations had taken a more personal turn. Eren had found out that prior to opening the tea shop, Levi had been in the military. His co-owner – Eren had only met them once – was a friend of his named Hanji and they were the one who had picked out the shop’s name. For all Levi’s grousing about Hanji, Eren could hear his fondness for his friend in the tone of his voice. In turn, Eren told Levi about his mother and about Armin and Mikasa. He may have had a crush on Levi, but he was perfectly fine being his friend as well; there was an easy camaraderie between them as they spoke and Eren looked forward to his visits to the tea shop. This was oh-so-very comfortable and he was nervous about tipping the balance of their friendship and losing Levi because of a stupid crush.

“Uh, Levi?”

“Hm?”

“I was wondering if… well there’s a tea ceremony thing happening next weekend. So I was thinking… well I was wondering if you were going to be there.”

“The one at the Sina Museum?” Eren swallowed dryly as he watched Levi fiddle with his hands.

“Are you asking me on a date?”

“Um, yeah. If that’s okay?” He watched a slight smile form on Levi’s face before he responded.

“I’d really like that.”


End file.
